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Bulă (Romanian pronunciation: [ˈbulə]) is a fictional stock character of Romanian humor.
Bulă, a buffoon and coward, was "born" during the Nicolae Ceaușescu regime of Communist Romania.[1] The name, among other interpretations, is a one-letter deformation of "pulă", a Romanian vulgar slang for "penis".[2] Bulă is young, he is funny, he has an attitude, and he has an answer for everything. He can be a hero with modesty and, equally, he can fail with dignity; no one can firmly say whether he is stupid or just a trickster. Bulă is the descendant of Păcală and Tândală, friend of Ițic and Ștrul, less educated, but with an equally sharp tongue.[3]
In 2006, TVR conducted a vote to determine whom the general public considers the 100 greatest Romanians of all time. Bulă was voted to be the 59th greatest Romanian.
Silvian Centiu, commenting on his show, A Transylvanian in Silicon Valley, wrote: "When in San Francisco and in New York I mentioned Bula, the omnipresent character in Romanian jokes, I was delighted to hear audience members laugh before I finished the joke – I knew they were Romanians."[4]
Sample Bulă jokes
[edit]At school: "Children, who can tell what is the main goal of Socialism?" Bulă raises his hand. The teacher groans, "Oh no, Bulă, none of your nonsense." – "But I do know the answer! The main goal of socialism is the well-being and happiness of the man... And I even know who this man is."[1]
Bulă's April Fool's Day joke: "Mommy, mommy! Dad hung himself in the garage!" – The mother rushes to the garage, finds nothing, and Bulă is laughing. – "Ha-ha fooled you! He hung himself in the attic."[1]
Bulă was walking down the street one day and a man asked him: "Bulă, where are you going?" – "Huh, how do you know I'm not coming?"[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Popescu, Adam (March 29, 2009). "Viața și destinul lui Bulă" [The life and destiny of Bulă]. Evenimentul Zilei (in Romanian). Retrieved July 4, 2024.
- ^ Volkan, V. D. (1995). "Totem and taboo in Romania: A psychopolitical diagnosis. Archived 2019-11-28 at the Wayback Machine" Mind and Human Interaction, 2: 66-83.
- ^ a b Tănase, Monica (April 20, 2006), "Cu nostalgie despre Bulă", Dilema veche (in Romanian), retrieved September 4, 2024
- ^ "A Transylvanian in Silicon Valley". www.atransylvanian.com.